Tag: Broncos Owner

Russell Wilson is confident Broncos owners will hire the right coach

“We’ve got some amazing people at the forefront of this change,” Russell Wilson said of the ownership group leading a head coach search.

The Denver Broncos hired and fired three different head coaches from 2017-2022, and now they’re set to go through the process again after parting ways with Nathaniel Hackett.

Denver’s new ownership group did not hire Hackett — or the two coaches before him. They did fire Hackett, though, and now they will begin their own search for a head coach for the first time.

The Broncos’ ownership group is led by majority owner Rob Walton. Below him are team co-owner/CEO Greg Penner (Walton’s son-in-law) and Carrie Walton Penner (Greg’s wife, Walton’s daughter). Below them, Denver has three minority owners: Condoleezza Rice, Mellody Hobson and Lewis Hamilton.

Of those final three, Rice has the most football experience, and she will be part of the team’s head coach search committee. Penner will lead the coach search with help from the other owners and general manager George Paton.

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson is confident the team’s ownership group will find the right man for the job.

“I think, first of all, we have a great ownership group,” the QB said Sunday. “Obviously, we have some amazing, wise people. Greg and Carrie, Mr. Walton himself, Rob, and obviously Condoleezza’s a brilliant mind, Mellody, Lewis. We’ve got some amazing people at the forefront of this change and this moment here, and it’s got this moment is a critical moment for us all because it’s going to uplift the change and hopefully all of Broncos Country for a long time.

“That’s what we want, we want a lot of winnings. We want some Super Bowls and championships and obviously, this decision affects so many people and so many of us all in a beautiful way. Hopefully, that’s the case. What I do know is they’re going to do their due diligence on some amazing coaches.”

Wilson believes the Broncos are close to getting things turned around. With the right coach and better injury luck, Denver could get back on track quickly.

“We have a great football team,” the QB said. “I think it didn’t show up this year. There’s been a lot of challenges, a lot of injuries. There’s been a lot of tough times. There’s been a lot of changes. I know that ownership and George will do a tremendous job of making sure that we put the best football team out on that field next year and also with a new head coach situation, they’ll find a great head coach.”

So far, Denver has a list of six known head coach candidates. There might be more interviews on the way, but those six coaches — headlined by Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton — seem to be the team’s top candidates.

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Broncos’ new ownership group began showing interest in buying team 10 years ago

“The Broncos are the one sports franchise that we would have considered buying,” Rob Walton said.

Earlier this month, a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton completed a $4.65 billion purchase of the Denver Broncos.

The team was put up for sale earlier this year, but Walton and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, had been eyeing them up for a decade. At the time, the team wasn’t for sale. There were opportunities to buy other sports teams over the last decade, but Walton and Penner remained focused on the Broncos.

“We contemplated the idea of other sports franchise but if we were going to do something, this was going to be it,” Penner said at an introductory press conference on Aug. 10. “We live and work in Colorado. The NFL is just an incredible platform and the Broncos with what they mean to this region and the success that they have had. If we were going to buy any team, this was the team.”

The group had to be patient, but when the opportunity did arise to buy the team, they acted quickly.

“The Broncos are the one sports franchise that we would have considered buying,” Walton said on Aug. 9. “Greg, as he mentioned, started a conversation some 10 years ago about it. Then the team actually announced it was for sale early this year, and we got in the middle of it first thing.

“We had been talking about it, and we have connections. Greg and Carrie live in Colorado, and I’ve been going to Colorado and have had a home there for long, long time. [I have] other family members there. [It’s] a great connection for us, and we’re really, really excited about it. It’s a terrific team and terrific fan base.”

The team’s new ownership group has plenty of resources to pour into the team, but they’ll take a hands off approach with roster decisions. Walton is the majority owner but Penner, the new CEO, will handle the team’s day-to-day ownership duties. Penner will allow general manager George Paton to run football operations, which is a smart decision.

Penner will handle the business side while Paton handles the football side, a partnership that fans in Denver hope will lead to on-field success.

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Broncos owners aren’t rushing decision on stadium

“We’ll evaluate all of our options and dig in to understand the situation before making any decision,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said.

The Denver Broncos have a new ownership group, and fans are curious to know what changes might be in store for the team — changes such as potential new uniforms and a potential new stadium.

We know there won’t be new uniforms right away (the earliest changes could be made is 2023, and perhaps more realistically in 2024).

So how about Empower Field at Mile High? Will the team’s new ownership group build a new super stadium to rival SoFi Stadium?

Nothing’s imminent.

“It’s premature to start talking about a new stadium,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said last week. “I’ll say that Empower Field at Mile High is a world-class facility. It’s hosted, obviously, football games, terrific other sporting events and entertainment events.

“We have a good partnership with the Metropolitan Football Stadium District and have almost 10 years left on our lease. We’ll evaluate all of our options and dig in to understand the situation before making any decision.”

The Broncos might not necessarily wait the entire 10 years before making a decision, but they don’t appear to be in a rush to make big changes. The team will obviously remain at Empower Field for at least the 2022 season. Beyond that, who knows? But fans shouldn’t expect a new stadium announcement anytime soon.

“We have some time to go out and see what the different options are — consider everything and then make a decision,” Penner said.

Word on potential new uniforms will likely arrive much sooner than word on a potential new stadium. For now, Empower Field remains the team’s home.

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Broncos owners won’t interfere with football decisions

Denver’s new ownership group won’t interfere with football decisions, allowing Broncos GM George Paton to manage the roster.

The Denver Broncos have a new ownership group with Walmart heir Rob Walton serving as the majority owner and Greg Penner stepping into chief executive officer duties as a co-owner.

The ownership group will have the final say on everything, but they’ll focus primarily on the business side of the team. Walton won’t become the new Jerry Jones — Denver’s ownership group doesn’t plan to interfere with the team’s roster decisions.

“We’re big believers in empowering people,” Penner said last week. “We love football … but we’re not going to be calling plays. We’re not going to be drafting players. We’re going to empower this team led by George Paton and Nathaniel Hackett to make those key decisions. Obviously, part of this fun is learning and understanding and all of that but we’re going to be [making the football decisions]. They’re going to make the football decisions.”

Paton will still be in charge of the team’s roster decisions and the owners will aim to give him the resources required to compete for titles. That certainly sounds like a recipe for success.

“The big vision is that we want to win football championships,” Penner said. “We want to do it in the right way. The first place you have to start is with the people. And on the football side, we couldn’t be more excited about what we have, with George, Nathaniel, Russell [Wilson] in place.”

It seems that Walton will have a pretty hands-off approach, with Penner handling the day-to-day duties while serving as the face of the ownership group. Walton is ultimately the controlling owner, though, and he has one goal in mind.

“Our number one priority is putting a winning team on the field to win Super Bowls for Broncos Country,” Walton said.

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Garett Bolles eager for Walton-Penner group to build on Bowlen legacy

“The Walton-Penner group are going to come in here and take what the Bowlen family has done and just continue to run with it and build it.”

The Denver Broncos finally cleared the last legal hurdle of the ownership battle when the NFL unanimously approved the sale of the team to the Walton-Penner group earlier this month. The group — comprised of personalities such as Walmart heir Rob Walton, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton — are now the fifth ownership in team history.

Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles was effusive in his praise of the group, saying that they are going to build on the winning legacy of late former owner Pat Bowlen.

“[The Bowlen family] changed this whole city, and they changed this organization,” Bolles said earlier this summer. “The Walton-Penner group are going to come in here and take what the Bowlen family has done and just continue to run with it and build it.”

In their introductory press conference as a new ownership group, owner Greg Penner addressed the expectations that are in place.

“The Broncos are an iconic franchise that means so much to Denver, Colorado and the whole region,” Penner said. “Following in the footsteps of Pat Bowlen and Joe Ellis, are no small feat. Our Broncos fans have high expectations, we know that, and we embrace it. We believe that a winning team and organization require the right people, high expectations, the necessary resources, and accountability. We are committed to that, and we are going to draw on this diverse ownership group to succeed.”

While the group begins to wet their feet in the day-to-day operations of the team, Bolles expressed excitement for the future.

“I’m looking forward to all the amazing memories and all the amazing things that we are going to do and accomplish, both on the field and off the field.”

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Broncos have ‘no immediate plans’ to add members to ownership group

Broncos have ‘no immediate plans’ to add Peyton Manning or John Elway to their new ownership group.

The Denver Broncos’ new ownership group led by Rob Walton, Greg Penner and Carrie Penner has added three minority investors: Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice and Lewis Hamilton.

Two other high-profile candidates are believed to be interested in joining the team’s ownership group, but Penner said Wednesday that nothing is imminent.

“At this point, we don’t have anything to add or share on that,” Penner said when asked about potential additions to the ownership group. “No immediate plans.”

John Elway has publicly stated that he would be interested in joining ownership, but he remains an outside consultant. ESPN reported in June that Peyton Manning was a candidate to join the team in an advisor role that could eventually lead to “equity in the franchise.”

Neither Elway or Manning are set to join ownership, though, at least not right now, but both former quarterbacks remain closely connected to the team.

“We are in a terrific position of having two great Broncos, they were both out here [at practice] today, and it’s been fantastic to spend some time with them,” Penner said Wednesday. “John Elway is the ultimate Bronco. He won championships as both a player and an executive. I have had a chance to visit with him and look forward to learning as much from him as possible.

“Peyton is one of the greatest NFL players of all time — obviously, won a championship here. We have had a chance to get to know him through the process as well. We are just going to learn from both of them. I think it is going to be a really good relationship.”

Regardless of whether or not they get official titles, it seems clear that both Elway and Manning aim to help the team any way they can going forward.

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Meet the new Broncos ownership group

The Bowlen era has come to an end. Here are the Broncos’ new owners.

The Bowlen era has come to an end in Denver.

NFL owners met Tuesday and unanimously voted in favor of a new Broncos ownership group led by Rob Walton, who agreed to pay $4.65 billion to the Bowlen family to purchase the team earlier this summer.

The late Pat Bowlen bought the team from Edgar Kaiser Jr. for $70 million in 1984. Denver’s NFL franchise went on to win three Super Bowls under Bowlen’s leadership before he died in 2019 following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

After Bowlen’s death, the team was run by a trust led in part by team president/CEO Joe Ellis. Bowlen’s children could not agree on a controlling owner among them, so the trust put the team up for sale earlier this year.

Tuesday’s approved sale marks the end of the Bowlen ownership era. Here’s a quick look at the team’s new ownership group that will be led by Walton starting this season.

NFL owners approve new Broncos ownership group

Official: NFL owners have approved the new Broncos ownership group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton.

It’s finally official.

NFL owners met on Thursday to vote on the Denver Broncos’ new ownership group and — as expected — the group has been approved, unanimously.

Rob Walton is the group’s leader and he will become the team’s new controlling owner. With an estimated net worth of about $60 billion, Walton instantly becomes the wealthiest owner in the NFL.

Walton will be the majority owner but his son-in-law, Greg Penner, and Walton’s daughter, Carrie Walton-Penner, are expected to handle most of the team’s day-to-day ownership duties.

In addition to the Walton-Penner family, the group has also added three minority owners so far: businesswoman Mellody Hobson, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. Peyton Manning is also believed to be a candidate to join the team as an advisor.

The first order of business for the new ownership group will likely be giving quarterback Russell Wilson a contract extension. Walton might also consider the possibility of a new stadium, and starting next year, the team might also consider updating their uniforms.

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F1’s Lewis Hamilton comments on joining Broncos’ ownership group

F1’s Lewis Hamilton says he’s “excited to join an incredible group of owners and become a part of the #Broncos story!”

After the Denver Broncos announced Tuesday that Lewis Hamilton is joining their (pending) new ownership group, the accomplished Formula One driver took to Twitter to share the following statement via social media:

“Excited to join an incredible group of owners and become a part of the @Broncos story!! Honoured to work with a world class team and serve as an example of the value of more diverse leadership across all sports. Roscoe already thinks he made the team 😂 #LetsRide 🐎🔥”

The post included a picture of his dog, Roscoe, decked out in Broncos gear.

Hamilton is the third minority investor to join the team’s ownership group following the additions of accomplished businesswoman Mellody Hobson and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Peyton Manning has also been linked to the team as a potential candidate to join the Broncos as an advisor. The new ownership group, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, is expected to be approved by NFL owners on Aug. 9.

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Broncos add F1 driver Lewis Hamilton to ownership group

Lewis Hamilton, the top driver in F1, is now a co-owner of the Broncos.

The Denver Broncos’ new ownership group continues to grow.

Rob Walton, Denver’s (pending) majority owner, announced Tuesday that British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is joining the team’s ownership group.

“We’re delighted to welcome seven-time Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton to our ownership group,” Walton said in a statement. “He is a champion competitor who knows what it takes to lead a winning team and a fierce advocate for global equality, including in his own sport.

“With over 100 race wins, Lewis is considered the most successful F1 driver of all time. His resilient spirit and standard of excellence will be an asset to the ownership group and the Broncos organization.”

As Walton’s statement indicated, Lewis is a highly-accomplished driver. In recognition of his racing success and off-track environmental and social activism, Lewis was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021.

Here’s how quarterback Russell Wilson reacted to the news on Twitter:

Walton will be the team’s controlling owner, but his son-in-law, Greg Penner, is expected to handle the day-to-day operations. Penner’s wife, Carrie Walton Penner, will also have a key role in ownership.

In addition to Lewis, the Walton-Penner group has also added accomplished businesswoman Mellody Hobson and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as minority co-owners.

NFL owners will vote on the team’s new ownership group on Aug. 9, and the group is expected to be approved just in time for preseason.

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